Kazakh Red Crescent takes anti-TB message into communities

Volunteers and staff from the Kazakh Red Crescent Society took to the streets and parks on March 24, World Tuberculosis Day, to launch a new campaign under the slogan ‘We Can Stop TB’.

The main purpose of the campaign was to raise awareness about TB. To this end the Health Department of the together with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the National TB Center had developed key messages, which were used in the different materials and highlighted at different events.

More than 600 students watched a movie about tuberculosis in schools and colleges and on March 21 another event took place in the Central City Park in Almaty, coinciding with the national holiday Nauryz when many people traditionally to go the park. All through the day more than a thousand adults and children received information on the symptoms, the importance and effectiveness of treatment and prevention measures of TB.

Spread the word

Hundreds of social media users followed the TB awareness campaign on the Red Crescent page on Facebook and other internet platforms.

The Kazakh Red Crescent Society also took part in the National TB conference, which highlighted the achievements and perspectives of the National TB programme. At the conference the staff of the national society made a presentation and shared the experience they gained in preventing and treating TB.

Taking into consideration the seriousness of the problem, the Kazakh Red Crescent Society has been working on TB issues since 2000. The main TB activities relate to services that support the adherence of the patients to treatment and prevention among the general population.

In order to stop the spread of tuberculosis the society uses different methods such as public events, dissemination of the information and educational materials, success stories and testimonials, and using social media.